Fishery management plan for the spiny lobster fishery of puerto rico and the u. S. Virgin islands
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- 2.0 Introduction
1.0 Executive SummaryFisheries for spiny lobster (Panulirus argus) exist throughout its range in the Caribbean and tropical western Atlantic. Foreign and U.S. scientists and fisheries managers all concur the Caribbean spiny lobster is fully exploited or over-exploited in much of its range (Cochrane and Chakalall 2001). Spiny lobsters are being harvested below the respective Continental and Caribbean U.S. minimum size limits; this is adversely impacting recruitment throughout Florida and the Caribbean because of the distribution and dispersal of larvae during their long larval phase. A reduction of effort on undersized lobster and a more comprehensive enforcement tool would increase spawning stock biomass and increase potential yield. The lobster seafood industry has even recognized this fact and has asked respective governments to address the illegal harvest and exportation of undersized lobster tails to the United States. This Amendment/EIS will examine various alternatives to restrict imports of spiny lobster into the United States to minimum conservation standards to achieve an increase in the spawning biomass of the spiny lobster stock and increase long-term yields from the fishery. Limiting Caribbean spiny lobster imports to a uniform minimum size that protects juvenile spiny lobsters would help stabilize the reproductive potential of the Caribbean spiny lobster by reducing the amount of juvenile spiny lobster mortality in foreign fisheries. Such action would result in the harvest of larger lobsters in exporting countries and approximately 50 percent of these larger lobsters will be capable of spawning, thus increasing the probability of dispersal of Caribbean spiny lobster larvae throughout the species’ range. Scientists state that the harvest of juvenile tails in other Caribbean countries impacts the sustainability of U.S. lobster stocks because these harvesting countries produce the parental stocks and larvae for the U.S. stocks. In other words, if you destroy brood stock off the coast of Latin America, you effectively destroy the fisheries of other countries, regardless of the management schemes in those countries. This animal is an example of a shared resource in that it has no national boundaries because of its dependency on the ocean currents for its larval distribution. Action 1 is intended to improve the status of the spiny lobster stock pan-Caribbean by providing an incentive for foreign nations to implement conservation standards designed to protect the spawning stock and therefore the reproductive ability of the spiny lobster population. The most effective means for creating this incentive is to improve NOAA law enforcement’s (LE) capabilities by preventing undersized lobster from being imported to the United States. By implementing an import restriction on size, LE will be more capable of tracking undersized lobster shipments and developing criminal cases against suspected importers of undersized lobster. Action 2 is designed to: 1) provide further protections to undersized lobsters, and 2) protect berried females. If any importation conservation standards are to have the desired effect, then the trade in “lobster meat” must be stopped to close the potential loophole of harvesting undersize lobster, processing it into meat, and then making it available in the market. Unshelled lobster tail meat shipped in its bulk raw form cannot be accurately measured and this practice has been performed by unscrupulous lobster exporters / importers to thwart law enforcement’s efforts to regulate a minimum size. The protection of berried females (or those that were, prior to being stripped) is imperative if the minimum conservation sizes are implemented in order to protect the spawning stock biomass; if no protections are afforded to the females as they are actively reproducing, then all benefits from increasing the spawning stock biomass have been lost. Both of these actions will aid in increasing the spawning stock biomass and protecting the spiny lobster resource. 2.0 Introduction2.1 BackgroundThe Caribbean spiny lobster (Panulirus argus) has a relatively long planktonic larval phase, which is referred to as the puerulus stage. Planktonic larvae are widely dispersed by ocean currents before they settle and recruit to a specific habitat. The long larval duration for spiny lobsters accounts for connectivity from their source areas to their settlement areas. Recruitment is dependent on environmental conditions, such as temperature and salinity, and on the availability of spawning adults, which is influenced by fishery factors, such as fishing pressure and minimum size limit compliance. Studies also have shown local gyres or loop currents in certain locations could influence the retention of locally spawned larvae. In addition, benthic structures such as coral reefs may disturb the flow of water and lead to the settlement of larvae in a particular location (Lee et. al. 1994). Most of the Caribbean spiny lobster research has been conducted on the Florida population, but the interconnectivity issue also has been studied in the Caribbean region and is recognized and discussed in the Caribbean Council’s Spiny Lobster Fishery Management Plan. Caribbean spiny lobster ranges throughout the western Atlantic Ocean from North Carolina to Brazil, including Bermuda, the Bahamas, and all of the Caribbean and Central American areas in between (Hernkind 1980). DNA analysis indicates a single stock structure for the Caribbean spiny lobster (Lipcius and Cobb, 1994; Silberman and Walsh 1994) throughout its range. Some Caribbean spiny lobster fisheries managed by other countries (i.e., Brazil, Nicaragua, and Ecuador) are reportedly heavily exploited. These countries export millions of pounds of lobsters to the United States that are at or below their mean size at reproduction. Overexploiting spiny lobster stocks in foreign fisheries could jeopardize the abundance and structure of U.S. stocks because the larval recruitment of U.S. stocks is dependent on the reproductive potential of stocks managed by other countries. The potential for overfishing the Caribbean spiny lobster is relatively high because a lucrative market exists for all sizes of this species. Approximately 90 percent of the Caribbean spiny lobster marketed in the United States is harvested by foreign fisheries managed by Central and South America countries. Limiting Caribbean spiny lobster imports to a uniform minimum size that protects juvenile spiny lobsters would help stabilize the reproductive potential of the Caribbean spiny lobster by reducing the amount of juvenile spiny lobster mortality in foreign fisheries. Such action would result in the harvest of larger lobsters in exporting countries and approximately 50 percent of these larger lobsters will be capable of spawning, thus increasing the probability of dispersal of Caribbean spiny lobster larvae throughout the species’ range. Scientists state that the harvest of juvenile tails in other Caribbean countries impacts the sustainability of U.S. lobster stocks because these harvesting countries produce the parental stocks and larvae for the U.S. stocks. In other words, if you destroy brood stock off the coast of Latin America, you effectively destroy the fisheries of other countries, regardless of the management schemes in those countries. This animal is an example of a shared resource in that it has no national boundaries because of its dependency on the ocean currents for its larval distribution. Establishment of a uniform minimum size for spiny lobsters imported to the U.S. would assist law enforcement officers in restricting illegal product in the market. The “big four” exporters to the United States are the Bahamas, Brazil, Honduras, and Nicaragua. All these countries have some form of minimal size limit for the Caribbean spiny lobster, but unfortunately this size limit is not standardized. Furthermore, exporting countries do not have the law enforcement resources to effectively monitor shipments to the United States. The United States imports millions of dollars of undersized lobster each year. Most of these imports go undetected because of the enforcement loopholes that exist for international poachers. These loopholes include: (a) the lack of a U.S. minimal size limit that is applicable for all imports; (b) the use of secretive codes to disguise the undersized lobster tail shipments; (c) the increased use of “trans-shipments through countries of convenience” (i.e. shipping illegal product thru countries that have weaker lobster laws and changing the country of origin to avoid investigators); and (d) shipping the illegal tails to U.S. ports, where inspectors are not as savvy to the lobster smuggling issues. Minimum size limits are typically used to protect the breeding stock in a fishery, and are often defined at a size that will allow individuals in a population the opportunity to breed at least once before being subject to harvest. The 3 inch (7.6 cm) carapace length (CL) minimum size limit restriction on imports that is currently being considered by the three regional Fishery Management Councils and NOAA Fisheries Service would provide about 50 percent of spiny lobsters the opportunity to spawn at least once before they can be landed by a fishery (Lyons et al. 1981). As an indication of the importance of establishing a minimum import size close to the size at maturity for spiny lobster, each Caribbean spiny lobster measuring 3” CL typically produces about 300,000 eggs per clutch. However, a more recent study demonstrates the difficulty in determining the size at maturity for spiny lobster. Bertelsen and Matthews (2001) compared spiny lobster fecundity between adjoining populations of spiny lobster in Florida. The authors found those lobsters in the heavily fished Florida Keys fishery reproduced at a smaller size than those in the sanctuary of the Dry Tortugas National Park. Lobsters from the fishery less than 70 mm (2.75 inches) were found to produce eggs, whereas very few lobsters less than 80 mm (3.15 inches) CL and none less than 70 mm CL produce eggs in the sanctuary population. Current regulations, established in 1983, prohibit the possession of egg-bearing females, and established a minimum size limit in terms of carapace length. The Caribbean Fishery Management Council rejected a minimum weight limit because of difficulty of weighing spiny lobsters at sea. NOAA’s Office of Law Enforcement strongly recommends an import restriction include a minimum size limit that utilizes a tail weight measured in ounces (using carapace and tail length conversions). All spiny lobsters will be required to be landed with the shell attached. The landing limit will be converted to a minimum weight limit range (in ounces and grams), noting that Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission scientists have published conversion tables that could be used to determine the most applicable length and weight requirements. The implementation of a minimum weight in ounces is critical for NOAA law enforcement as the seafood industry, processes, packs, ships, exports, imports, and sells lobster tails by weight. In addition, U.S. Customs’ entry documents and the seafood industry’s sales, storage and bills of lading documents typically include the tail weights (in ounces), making this measurement an effective enforcement tool to track undersized lobster, even after it enters the U.S. port. Preliminary discussions with all three regional Fishery Management Councils and the state of Florida indicate broad support for a minimum size landing limit restriction on Caribbean spiny lobster imports. The intent is to maintain an open line of dialogue with all parties throughout the fishery management plan amendment process to ensure any problems or issues that surface as the proposed action is developed are satisfactorily addressed. Since 2003, an effort has been underway to establish a U.S. minimal size limit that would be applicable to spiny lobster imports. This effort has been supported by the U.S. Department of Justice, NOAA’s Office of Law Enforcement, Southeast Region, three regional Fishery Management Councils and, recently, by some leading seafood industry corporations, which realize the spiny lobster fishery is being decimated throughout the Caribbean basin. The United States has other existing restrictions on seafood imports involving American lobster, swordfish imports and tuna imports. There are about 45 species of spiny lobsters species (commonly called rock lobster) in the family Palinuridae throughout the world with several occurring in the Caribbean basin. The Caribbean spiny lobster (P. argus; aka red lobster tail and Florida spiny lobster) is the predominant species making up approximately 95 percent of the lobster harvested and marketed in the Caribbean basin countries (i.e., Florida, Central America (Atlantic side), Bahamas, and Brazil). Symmetrical spots on the tail segments and unique markings on the tail fins of this species make it morphologically distinguishable from other species. Spiny lobsters that originate from the Caribbean basin are tailed, sorted by weight, packed in 10-pound boxes, and shipped to the United States for consumption. Based on law enforcement officer’s experiences in inspecting these boxes, the contents are exclusively one species (Caribbean spiny lobster). This is true for the Central American countries (Atlantic side), the Caribbean Island countries and Florida. Brazil poses a slight problem because it mixes Caribbean spiny lobster with P. lauvicauda in some shipments that are exported to the United States. However, Brazilian authorities have identified the problem and are attempting to implement a rule that would change this practice and would require species to be isolated before packing. NOAA’s Office of Law Enforcement, Southeast Region, has made several significant Lacey Act cases involving undersized lobster (w/ Honduras, Nicaragua, Bahamas, and an ongoing one with Brazil). These cases typically are criminal and are rather complex in nature due to the need for cooperation with foreign governments, poorly written foreign laws, the high crime factor involved with the defendants, and the millions of dollars of illegal proceeds. When investigating these significant lobster import cases, NOAA’s Special Agents and Department of Justice prosecutors have frequently encountered defense attorneys and defendants that have attempted to undermine the foreign lobster laws of the harvesting countries in order to invalidate the Lacey Act and the U.S. efforts to apprehend those responsible. A U.S. minimum restriction applicable to spiny lobster imports would greatly assist law enforcement and federal prosecutors to stem the illegal and profitable flow of undersized imports into the U.S. markets. International In an international fishery like that of spiny lobster, “consensus” on addressing concerns is important, as are U.S. efforts to engage other countries in negotiations/agreements. FAO/WECAFC has organized five workshops on spiny lobster in cooperation with most regional agencies and institutions, dealing with various projects: Belize City, Belize (1997); Merida, Mexico (1998, 2000, and 2006); and Havana, Cuba (2002). A representative from the Caribbean Council attended all the workshops. A staff member of NOAA Fisheries Service’s Southeast Region attended the 2006 workshop in Merida. The 2006 Merida workshop was divided into two parts. The first part occurred September 19- 27, and was attended by senior scientists from lobster producing nations. The second part occurred September 28-29, and was attended by senior fishery managers, senior scientists, representatives from the fishing and processing industry, and selected lobster importers. The objectives of the workshop were: (1) to review and update the assessments of the status of Caribbean spiny lobster at national and regional levels and to consider the current levels of exploitation and recent trends in the fishery; and (2) to evaluate the nature and severity of current problems in the fishery, including the number of undersized lobster being caught and exported. The workshop sought regional agreement by senior fishery managers on strategies to address problems and to ensure optimal and sustainable use of the resource. Senior scientists and senior decision makers of the following lobster producing nations participated in the workshop: Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Belize, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, France on behalf of Guadeloupe and Martinique, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Turks and Caicos, United States, and Venezuela. The senior fishery managers carefully considered and adopted the report of the senior scientists. In keeping with the recommendation to allow about 50 percent of the stock to reach maturity, the national representatives agreed to a minimum harvest size of 74 mm (2.91 inches) cephalothorax length. Nations with minimum size limits greater than 76 mm were encouraged to retain the larger minimum size limits because of the additional conservation and economic benefits they provide. In addition to the minimum size limit, it was agreed that managing fishing mortality also is necessary to achieve sustainable use of the resource. It was further agreed that countries that already have minimum size limits in place should take action to implement and enforce them effectively to reduce the currently high catches of juveniles in order to protect and allow the species to rebuild throughout its range. More recently, at a Regional workshop on the lobster fisheries in Central America held in Managua, Nicaragua, December 10-11, 2007, sponsored by OSPESCA, the delegates representing Central American fishery management agencies, artisanal fishers, industry, and other institutions developed an 18 point workshop accord, which addressed, among other things, a minimum harvest size for lobster tails of 140 mm (5.5 inches). The accord also recognized industry practices and determined for commercial purposes, each box must have an average tail weight of five ounces with a range of 4.5 to 5.5 ounces. A 5.5 inch tail length and 4.5 oz weight equate to a 3.0 inch carapace length. Directory: Beta -> GMFMCWeb -> downloads -> BB%202008-06 BB%202008-06 -> Fishery management plan for the spiny lobster fishery of puerto rico and the u. S. Virgin islands downloads -> Ulf of mexico fishery management council activity report for mississippi department of marine resources downloads -> Ulf of mexico fishery management council activity report for mississippi department of marine resources downloads -> Goliath Grouper Data Workshop Report downloads -> Tab B, No. 7 Outline for Development of a State-Federal Cooperative Research Program for Goliath Grouper in Florida Report to the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management downloads -> Tab c, no. 4 Rick sounds good to me. I would suggest using the most recent tor wording provided by sedar and making any necessary modifications to that wording. Then we will address at our March 2008 meeting. Gregg From downloads -> Ulf of mexico fishery management council activity report for mississippi department of marine resources Download 2.7 Mb. Share with your friends:
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